Abstract

There are few sources for early medieval Scottish music and their interpretation is contentious. Many writers have consequently turned to Irish sources to supplement them. An examination of patterns of cultural influence in sculpture and metalwork suggests that, in addition to an Irish influence, a Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon influence and sources should be considered. Differences in the musical evidence from these groups, however, suggest a complex process of diffusion, innovation and local choice in the interaction of their musical cultures. The difficulty of predicting the course of such a process means that the observation of cultural influence in other disciplines is not on its own a useful tool in the study of music in Scotland before the mid-ninth century.